Police Brutality / Individual record
Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2018-11-22 in Hoover, AL. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-1014
- Incident date
- November 22, 2018
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Hoover, AL
- Agency
- Hoover Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 21
What happened
Emantic 'E.J.' Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21, was shot and killed by Hoover, Alabama police Officer David Alexander at Riverchase Galleria on Thanksgiving night, November 22, 2018. Shots had been fired inside the mall, wounding two people, and Bradford, who lawfully carried a handgun, moved toward the commotion. An officer arriving within seconds saw Bradford carrying the gun and fired without warning, killing him. Police initially identified Bradford as the gunman responsible for the earlier shooting but later withdrew that allegation and identified another suspect. Bradford's family challenged the use of force and said he was attempting to help. In February 2019, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced he would not prosecute Alexander after reviewing surveillance and investigative evidence. In April 2025, the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision reviewing the family's civil-rights claims and the officer's asserted qualified immunity. The official no-charge decision and the family's civil challenges are distinct findings.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 4199
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 610
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset